It was released as the second single from their ninth studio album Everything Will Be Alright in the End on September 8, 2014.

[1] Like the previous single "Back to the Shack", the song has received favorable comparisons to Weezer's earlier albums.

A jangly Egyptian-themed song,[2] "Cleopatra" is described as a throwback to Weezer's classic sound.

[5] Carolyn Menyes at Music Times comments that "it seems like the band has finally returned to form after all these years", citing "Cleopatra" as an example.

[1] Dandiel Kreps of Rolling Stone declared "The track recalls the band's earlier albums", citing the production by Ric Ocasek.